EVERETT, Wash. – Boeing Co.’s new 787 jetliner is finally taking to the skies, more than two years later than the company planned.

Pilots Michael Carriker and Randall Neville smoothly lifted off at about 10:30 a.m. PST from Everett’s Paine Field and headed northbound on a four-hour flight over Washington state to perform a variety of basic tests and systems checks before landing at Seattle’s Boeing Field.

The 787 program has been plagued by ill-fitting parts and other problems. The first flight was supposed to be in 2007 with deliveries the following year, but Boeing has been forced to push that back five times. It now plans to make the first delivery to Japan’s All Nippon Airways late next year.